Among the many lessons of the past 18 months is the critical importance of high-quality childcare for University and UNC Health staff, students and faculty.
University parents and caregivers faced — and continue to face — unique challenges as we struggle to balance our work and family responsibilities. We had hoped that, as our employer, UNC would prioritize support for its working families. That’s why we are so disappointed by UNC’s decision to turn over management of the 60-year-old University Child Care Center to the for-profit company, Bright Horizons.
The University Child Care Center has provided high-quality early education for young children of University and UNC Health families for over 60 years. It has a deep history of community involvement, beginning with its origins as a parent cooperative. Since 1998, the University Daycare Center has been operated by Victory Village, a non-profit entity that exists solely to run the Center.
Victory Village — which is how most people refer to the University Child Care Center — is overseen by a Board of Directors that consists of parent/caregiver representatives, UNC Health representatives and University representatives. This model, in which the University, UNC Health and current families govern the Center collectively, has allowed caregivers’ and families’ voices to help shape the direction of the Victory Village.
Victory Village is beloved by the UNC community. It has been a model of best practices in early childhood care and education and home to a dedicated, highly-skilled, experienced and diverse staff — many of whom have stayed for decades and longer. Until recently, it was truly a jewel in UNC’s crown — not to mention a recruitment tool for new faculty and clinicians.
Now, all of that has changed. Over the weekend prior to Thanksgiving, with less than a week’s warning, University leadership announced that it had contracted with Bright Horizons to take over operation of the University Child Care Center. We are deeply dismayed by both this decision and the abrupt process through which it was made.
A move to for-profit status
Bright Horizons Family Solutions is a publicly-traded, for-profit company; in 2019, its income from operations was $67 million. In 2020, its CEO received a total compensation package exceeding $2 million. Bright Horizons’ ultimate metric of success is its revenue.
As a not-for-profit entity under Victory Village, the University Child Care Center was able to reinvest profits back into the Center itself. For example, staff members with young children received subsidized/free tuition at the Center, a benefit critical to teacher retention and morale. Remaining a non-profit also helped keep tuition as affordable as possible. While we hope these initiatives and scholarships will continue under Bright Horizons, it seems unlikely.